Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher.
Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
What is a DOI Number?
Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.
-
Abstract The gravity wave drag parametrization of the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) has been modified to include the wave‐driven atmospheric vertical mixing caused by propagating, non‐breaking, gravity waves. The strength of this atmospheric mixing is represented in the model via the “effective wave diffusivity” coefficient (Kwave). UsingKwave, a new total dynamical diffusivity (KDyn) is defined.KDynrepresents the vertical mixing of the atmosphere by both breaking (dissipating) and vertically propagating (non‐dissipating) gravity waves. Here we show that, when the new diffusivity is used, the downward fluxes of Fe and Na between 80 and 100 km largely increase. Larger meteoric ablation injection rates of these metals (within a factor 2 of measurements) can now be used in WACCM, which produce Na and Fe layers in good agreement with lidar observations. Mesospheric CO2is also significantly impacted, with the largest CO2concentration increase occurring between 80 and 90 km, where model‐observations agreement improves. However, in regions where the model overestimates CO2concentration, the new parametrization exacerbates the model bias. The mesospheric cooling simulated by the new parametrization, while needed, is currently too strong almost everywhere. The summer mesopause in both hemispheres becomes too cold by about 30 K compared to observations, but it shifts upward, partially correcting the WACCM low summer mesopause. Our results highlight the far‐reaching implications and the necessity of representing vertically propagating non‐breaking gravity waves in climate models. This novel method of modeling gravity waves contributes to growing evidence that it is time to move away from dissipative‐only gravity wave parametrizations.more » « less
-
Abstract We present X-ray polarimetry observations from the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) of three low spectral peak and one intermediate spectral peak blazars, namely 3C 273, 3C 279, 3C 454.3, and S5 0716+714. For none of these objects was IXPE able to detect X-ray polarization at the 3σlevel. However, we placed upper limits on the polarization degree at ∼10%–30%. The undetected polarizations favor models where the X-ray band is dominated by unpolarized photons upscattered by relativistic electrons in the jets of blazars, although hadronic models are not completely eliminated. We discuss the X-ray polarization upper limits in the context of our contemporaneous multiwavelength polarization campaigns.more » « less
-
Abstract We report the first >99% confidence detection of X-ray polarization in BL Lacertae. During a recent X-ray/ γ -ray outburst, a 287 ks observation (2022 November 27–30) was taken using the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), together with contemporaneous multiwavelength observations from the Neil Gehrels Swift observatory and XMM-Newton in soft X-rays (0.3–10 keV), NuSTAR in hard X-rays (3–70 keV), and optical polarization from the Calar Alto and Perkins Telescope observatories. Our contemporaneous X-ray data suggest that the IXPE energy band is at the crossover between the low- and high-frequency blazar emission humps. The source displays significant variability during the observation, and we measure polarization in three separate time bins. Contemporaneous X-ray spectra allow us to determine the relative contribution from each emission hump. We find >99% confidence X-ray polarization Π 2 – 4 keV = 21.7 − 7.9 + 5.6 % and electric vector polarization angle ψ 2–4keV = −28.°7 ± 8.°7 in the time bin with highest estimated synchrotron flux contribution. We discuss possible implications of our observations, including previous IXPE BL Lacertae pointings, tentatively concluding that synchrotron self-Compton emission dominates over hadronic emission processes during the observed epochs.more » « less
-
Abstract Blazars are a class of jet-dominated active galactic nuclei with a typical double-humped spectral energy distribution. It is of common consensus that the synchrotron emission is responsible for the low frequency peak, while the origin of the high frequency hump is still debated. The analysis of X-rays and their polarization can provide a valuable tool to understand the physical mechanisms responsible for the origin of high-energy emission of blazars. We report the first observations of BL Lacertae (BL Lac) performed with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, from which an upper limit to the polarization degree Π X < 12.6% was found in the 2–8 keV band. We contemporaneously measured the polarization in radio, infrared, and optical wavelengths. Our multiwavelength polarization analysis disfavors a significant contribution of proton-synchrotron radiation to the X-ray emission at these epochs. Instead, it supports a leptonic origin for the X-ray emission in BL Lac.more » « less
An official website of the United States government
